Gensokyo Incursion
by BlueRibbon118
Summary: A US Special Forces team is sent to a forest in central Japan to investigate 'strange occurrences'. What will they find? Will they survive? Read on to find out!
1. Chapter 1

Sergeant John Baker was far from amused while he marched to the Commanding Officer's quarters. 'What does he want now?' he thought to himself. 'This better be worth my whi-'

His train of thought was interrupted when he reached the door to the C.O's office, and knocked.

"Enter," came the muffled response from within. Making his way inside, Baker saluted to the C.O, who was filing paperwork at his desk. Looking up, he acknowledged Baker's presence.  
"Ah, Baker." he said. "Do take a seat."

Following his C.O's instruction, he took a seat. Immediately, he got to the point. "What did you want to see me for, sir?" he asked. 'Hopefully it's not another transfer,' Baker thought to himself.

The C.O smiled. He knew what Baker was thinking. "It's about a transfer," he said.

'Oh no,' Baker thought, struggling to hold back the urge to protest. He failed miserably. "But sir!" he said, standing up. "This is the fifth time my squad is being transferred this year alone! With all due respect, my men don't want to go sightseeing the world over. They want action, and they want it now. Just drop us off in Afghanistan or somewhere and we'll be set!"

The C.O, maintaining his composure, leaned forward. "Oh you'll be seeing action, alright," he said, rather calmly. "But you're not going to Afghanistan. Any guesses as to where?"

"No sir."

"Right." said the C.O, leaning back into his chair. "Your squad is being sent to..." he deliberately paused, and could not hide a smile when Baker leaned forward in anticipation.

"Japan." the C.O said abruptly.

Baker took a moment to take this all in. "... Eh? Japan, sir?"

"Correct, sergeant."

"But sir!" replied Baker, certainly surprised. "Haven't we been allies since the end of the Second World War?"

"Yes, and we still are. I don't know the details, but you'll find out what is going on when you get there. At this point, that's all you need to know. Dismissed."

Surprised and mildly annoyed, Baker saluted the C.O and marched out of the room back to his quarters. "Japan eh?" he muttered to himself. "I wonder why the C.O was in such a hurry to get me out. Ah well, we'll be told everything later. Perhaps I'd best tell my men now..."

* * *

Within the next few days, Sergeant baker's four-man fireteam, Fireteam Delta, were on a C-130 Hercules Transport Aircraft bound for Camp Zama, a US Military Installation in Japan.

"So why exactly are we headed to Japan, sarge?" asked Roy Davis, the 'Rifleman' of Fireteam Delta.

"I'm in the dark as much as you are, RD" replied Sergeant Baker, calling Roy by his callsign. "The C.O didn't tell me anything, apart from the fact that we're going to Japan."

"I hear the food's great," said Barney Perkins, the rather large 'Squad Automatic Rifleman' of the team as he snacked on some chocolate bars he had packed secretly. "It'll be a nice change from the donuts and McDonald's."

"Hey! McDonald's is awesome!" snapped RD. "How dare you-"

"Now now, RD," interrupted Sergeant Baker. "Let's not start a fight over donuts shall we? Now, Tubby, I'm sure the food is just as good as it is anywhere else in the world."

"I guess," replied Barney, responding to his callsign. "I suppose I don't mind as long as there's plenty of it. After all, I'm not a fussy eater." As he said this, he dropped his chocolate bar on the ground. The fireteam turned to stare at the chocolate bar on the dirty metal floor, seconds before Tubby snatched it up again and scoffed it down. An awkward silence followed.

"Well," said Daniel Minamoto, the squad 'Grenadier' of the fireteam and a man of Japanese-American descent. "It would certainly be interesting to see my home country. But, I wonder who exactly we're going to be fighting this time?"

"A holdout, perhaps?" suggested RD. "Like, some poor guy who still thinks WWII is on and we have to hunt him down or something. Oh, no offence there, Cookie."

"None taken," replied Minamoto, who went by the callsign 'Cookie'. "In any case, he would have to be a very old holdout - if I was abandoned by my country for sixty years, I would have given up and gone home long before then."

After a long, tiring flight, Fireteam Delta finally arrived in Japan and were transported by lorry to Camp Zama, a US Army Installation near Tokyo. The four men stepped out the back of the lorry, and were soon marched off to their new base and to settle in.

* * *

Several weeks had passed, and one day Fireteam Delta was called to the briefing room which, surprisingly, was kept in a top secret location. Its secrecy was such that Baker and his men had to be blindfolded while being led there by armed guards. When they took the blindfolds off, they were in a large lecture theater of sorts, with a US Army General at the stage.

"Welcome, gentlemen." he began. Baker and his men immediately saluted. Saluting back, the general continued. "Your old C.O said you guys wanted to see action real bad, eh? Well you might just get it. Sit down and I'll give you the details."

The General went on to explain that, according to eyewitness reports, a group of very well-armed Japanese terrorists were operating in the mountains of central Japan. The precise details of their tactics and weaponry were sketchy, as the 'eyewitnesses' were brutally wounded and traumatised US Navy SEALs sent in to investigate a series of unusual occurrences in the area. Fireteam Delta, of the US Special Forces, had been chosen because of their constant complaints of a lack of action, and the refusal of further co-operation from the SEALs and, indeed, the US Army.

"Wow, sir," said RD. "Those 'terrorists' must be pretty good to be able to outmatch the SEALs and send them home traumatised."

"Indeed," replied the General. "You guys will be clearing out for the area in a few days - your mission will be to gain as much information as possible on them so that we can plan a co-ordinated response. The Japanese Self Defence Force has also been generous enough to lend the support of three artillery batteries for heavy support, and we ourselves will have F-16s with air-to-ground weapons on standby - we're not taking any chances this time around."

"Sir," said Baker, raising his hand. "Out of curiosity, why will this operation be conducted in such secrecy?"

The General cleared his throat. "This mission, or Operation Shrine Maiden, is classified just below top secret for a good reason - if the Japanese public was to find out that a group of terrorists that could outmatch and beat the Navy SEALs was in the area, it would lead to widespread public panic and chaos."

"And Japan, as a country, will collapse. Am I right in saying that, sir?" asked Cookie.

"Correct." replied the General. "The operation will be pegged as a live-fire training exercise, to satisfy the media." The General allowed a moment's silence, before addressing the men one more time. "I wish you all well on this mission. Please be sure to come home alive."

'Don't worry, sir," said Sergeant Baker. "We will."

* * *

When the day of Operation Shrine Maiden came, Fireteam Delta was assembled and loaded on to a US Army lorry and driven to a strange forest at the foot of the Japanese Alps.

"What in the world?" said RD as he saw the Japanese Alps in the distance above the trees. "It's like we've somehow driven under North Korea, China, Russia, Poland and wound up in Switzerland! It is just me, or do those mountains look like the Swiss Alps?"

"It sure is a beautiful country," said Baker. "It's kinda sad, don't you think guys?"

Tubby, RD and Cookie all turned to look at Baker. "Why's that, sarge?" asked Tubby.

"Well," replied Baker. "Put it this way - some of us may not return alive."

Baker saw as the hearts of his men sank at the realisation that they were about to go into combat for the first time. Tubby even broke into tears and sobbed miserably. A single tear was shed from Cookie's eye, and RD just stared out at the mountains. None of them bothered to continue the conversation any further.

Arriving at a clearing in the forest, Fireteam Delta was ordered to dismount before bringing out their weapons. Baker picked up his M4 Carbine and slipped a clip in. RD, as the Squad Rifleman, readied his M16 Rifle and slung it over his shoulder. Cookie, the Grenadier, collected his M4 Carbine before affixing an M203 Grenade Launcher underneath. Tubby, as the Squad Automatic Weapon of the team, lifted his M249 Machine Gun out of its box and loaded a clip. All four men each took an M9 pistol for self defence, and Cookie was tasked with carrying their extra ammo.

When everything was ready, Sergeant baker addressed his Fireteam. "All right men," he began. "We'll head into the forest and probe the area before setting up camp at sundown. All we have to do is gain information on the terrorist's weapons and hopefully tactics. If something happens, don't hesitate call for support. Keep your training and everything I've taught you in mind, and we'll pull through. Right, let's move out."

Silently, Fireteam Delta set off into the deeper parts of the forest...


	2. Chapter 2

Sergeant Baker and his men cautiously advanced through the forest, paying close attention to their senses and surroundings. It was deceptively peaceful and quiet, to the point where it would be safe to assume that the men of Fireteam Delta were genuinely scared. At any moment, they expected to be ambushed and cut down in a single burst of well-aimed fire, or caught in some horrible trap.

A half hour had passed when Sergeant Baker heard a faint rustling up ahead. Signalling the Fireteam to halt, he deliberated on what to do.  
'What was that sound just now?' he asked himself. 'Could it be an animal? Or maybe a terrorist getting into an ambush position?'

While he pondered, a bolt of energy shot out and narrowly missed his feet. Jumping back in alarm, the Fireteam drew their weapons and aimed them around.

"What was that just now?" asked Cookie. "An enemy attack?"

Another bolt, or 'bullet', shot forth from the bushes and narrowly missed him, hitting a tree and leaving a distinct burn-mark on it.

"Take cover!" yelled Sergeant Baker. The four men ducked and rolled behind whatever cover they could find, and several more 'bullets' lashed out and hit the ground around them.

"Contact!" shouted Baker. "We're under fire! Cookie, get on the radio!"

"Right!"

Turning to RD and Tubby, Baker issued an order. "You two, return fire!"

Raising their weapons, RD fired a few rounds from his M16 rifle before being forced back down by the withering hail that came back. Tubby propped his M249 machine Gun on a tree-root sticking above ground and opened fire with short, controlled bursts. Sergeant Baker himself popped up and fired off a few rounds with his M4 Carbine. Somewhere out in the distance, partially obscured by the trees, a sharp eyed viewer would be able to see faint silhouettes falling from the treetops.

Meanwhile, Cookie was crouched in a small hole amidst the skirmish, clinging to the radio. "Hello?" he said into the radio in Japanese (his native language). "This is Fireteam Delta. We're under fire, requesting immediate artillery support!"

"Roger," said the voice on the other side. "Target co-ordinates?"

Cookie briefly looked over at the incoming hail of bullets, and took an estimate as to where the enemy was located. Looking back, he told the Colonel on the other side the co-ordinates for the strike; "Co-ordinates nine-point-three by eleven-two! Five rounds!"

"Roger that."

The JSDF Colonel put down the radio in his tent, before heading outside to the Japanese artillery crews. "Okay you lot," he said to them (in Japanese, obviously). "We have our fire-mission. Target co-ordinates nine-point-three by eleven two. Five rounds, fire when ready!"

The Japanese artillery crew scrambled to their positions, and within a minute had their guns ready for battle and loaded with high-explosive shells, before taking aim. It was not long after that the first artillery cannon fired, sending a 150mm shell into the sky. The force of the weapon kicked up a small cloud of dust, and the volume causing the eardrums of a passing rabbit to explode. The other cannons followed suit, and fell silent after five rounds had been fired.

"Here it comes!" yelled RD as the unmistakable whistle of an artillery could be heard.

Fireteam Delta ducked and huddled as low as they could, before five ear-shattering roars marked the high explosive shells slamming into the ground and unloading their destructive payload of shrapnel, high explosive and other nasties. Soon after, the dust cleared. Cautiously standing up, Baker's men looked around. The enemy had been silenced, at least for now.

Climbing out of his makeshift foxhole, RD examined the burn-mark left by the 'energy bullet' on one of the surrounding trees.

"What the heck are the terrorists using?" he wondered. "This is almost like a laser shot from Star Wars or something."

"Just goes to show they are, in fact, VERY well armed," said Sergeant Baker. "Looks like intel was right. We'd best be careful from here on."

After ascertaining the situation, Sergeant Baker issued new orders to his men. "You three cover me, I'm going ahead to investigate."

Nodding slowly, RD, Cookie and Tubby aimed their weapons as Sergeant Baker cautiously advanced to the five shell-holes torn into the forest floor up ahead. He scanned the ground there, and found nothing apart from charred bits of flesh and lots of displaced dirt. Signalling to his men that the area was secure, Fireteam Delta continued their sweep of the forest, ever cautious of another encounter like that.

Despite the apparent danger, however, the four men penetrated deep into the forest without incident. And, as planned, they set up camp at sundown.

Night fell, and Sergeant Baker, RD, Tubby and Cookie settled in and slept for the night.

* * *

Takeru Yoichi, a Tengu hailing from Youkai Mountain, staggered back through the Hakurei Shrine from the Outside world, battered and bruised from a brutal encounter with the outsiders along with a handful of his friends - most were killed when five spectacular explosions mysteriously rained down from the sky, decimating most of his flock.

"Pesky humans," he thought to himself. "I'll get back at you someday!"

"What's wrong?" said a voice. Takeru stopped and turned to look. There stood Reimu Hakurei, the shrine maiden. "As usual you lot are up to no good." she said sternly. "I already told you, foraging in the outside world for food is not a good idea!"

"But-" Takeru protested, but was cut off by Reimu.

"Complaints?" she said sharply. "Very well, if you can beat me then I shan't bother you any further. Takeru winced. He knew full well that Reimu was a strong opponent, but couldn't exactly back down in front of his few remaining flock members.

"I'll be civil," said Reimu. "You can make the first move."

Takeru pushed his doubts aside, before quickly leaping up and firing a barrage of energy bullets at Reimu. However, Reimu swiftly dodged each and every one of them. Pulling out a spell card, she called her attack.

"Divine Spirit, Fantasy Seal!"

About 10 seconds after those words were uttered, Takeru lay on the ground, even more badly bruised than he was before. When Reimu turned on her heel and stamped away, the remnants of his flock silently left him. After a moment of feeling sorry for himself, Takeru picked himself up off the ground.

"Those outisders!" he cursed, in a fit of rage. "They'll pay for my humiliation - it's their fault I'm in this mess!"

Stamping toward the Forest of Magic, Takeru hatched a cunning plan to get his revenge at them...

* * *

The sun rose over the horizon, the faint light illuminating the sleeping Forest and signaling that it was now morning.

"Sarge! Sarge!" Cookie's voice rang in Sergeant Baker's still-asleep head. Groggily looking up, he saw Cookie kneeling beside him, a look of panic on his face.

"What's up, Cookie?" asked Baker, rubbing his eyes.

"It's RD, sarge," Cookie replied. "He went off into the forest three hours ago and hasn't come back."

"Well then," replied baker, sitting up. "Guess that means we'll have to go searching for him. Get Tubby out here, will you?"

Cookie gulped. "H-He's gone too, sarge. He went half an hour ago in search of RD."

Sergeant Baker was about to rage, but relaxed. "Guess we'll have to search for him too. Get your gear - we're heading out."

"Yes sarge!"

* * *

Sergeant Baker and Lance Corporal Cookie had been bumbling about in the forest for about three hours now, and something didn't feel right - it was markedly more humid than yesterday, and the air had a sinister and somewhat evil feel to it. It was as if they were in another world altogether...

"What is this place?" whispered Cookie rather nervously. "The trees... They seem alive!"

"Don't be ridiculous," Baker whispered back. "It's just your imagination." But in actuality, he felt much the same as Cookie - his gut feeling told him he was no longer in Japan, and didn't want to admit it.

Something rustled in the bushes nearby. Turning and pointing his weapon, Baker was just able to see a blur zip away from his line of fire.

"Contact!" he shouted. "It's fast!"

"What do we do?" asked Cookie.

"Open fire!"

Baker squeezed the trigger of his Carbine, and sprayed the surrounding forest with hot lead. Cookie fired grenades from his grenade launcher, not sure where his target was (let alone hitting it).

Immediately after, however, that same blur jumped out of nowhere and dragged Cookie behind a bush. Sergeant Baker just happened to see Cookie's boots disappear behind a rather large shrub.

"Cookie!" yelled Baker. Loading a fresh clip into his M4 Carbine, he sprinted after Cookie. After a few seconds of running, he came to a clearing. Someone, or something, was holding Cookie hostage. Baker could hardly believe his eyes at what he saw - it looked like a human, but had sharp claws and red eyes. And crow-like wings. It snarled and attempted to sink its razor-sharp array of teeth into Cookie's flesh.

"H-help me sarge!" wailed Cookie.

"Foolish outsider!" the creature gloated. "You will pay for the humiliation you wrought on me, Takeru Yoichi-sama!" It then prepared to stab its claws into Cookie's neck.

Immediately, Baker aimed his gun at the creature. "Stop right where you are!" he shouted threateningly. "Or I'll blow your head off!"

Takeru hissed at him, before tearing off a chunk of flesh from Cookie's shoulder. Cookie screamed and fell to the ground, and that was when Sergeant Baker fired a single round into the creature's head, striking it between the eyes. Takeru lurched back from the shot, the bullet penetrating his skull and destroying the brain and killing him instantly. Baker then ran over to Cookie.

"You all right?" he asked.

Cookie didn't respond, but instead looked at the nasty bite-wound in his shoulder. Cookie groaned as he saw a piece of his own shoulder blade sticking out from the wound. Cookie then fainted from extreme pain and blood loss. Baker then heard voices coming from the mist, some of which was intelligible; "Feeding time... More fresh meat... Human meat... Food..."  
Sergeant Baker wasted no time in bandaging Cookie's wound, before slinging his M4 Carbine over his shoulder. He then carried Cookie with one hand, and drew his M9 pistol in the other before running aimlessly into the forest.

Baker wasn't sure how long he had been running, but he sure was getting tired. He slowed to a stop, having narrowly escaped those... Creatures. Panting and catching his breath, he looked around. By this point, the mist had cleared and Baker found himself in a small clearing. Gently setting Cookie down, he pulled out the radio that Cookie had with him. Turning it on, he attempted to establish a connection. Much to his surprise, however, there was no response. In fact, it seemed that there were absolutely no radio waves whatsoever in the entire area. Silently cursing, Baker packed the radio away before hoisting Cookie up again and continuing his wandering of the Forest.

A few hours of exhausting trekking led Baker to sit down for a rest. Laying back against a tree, he sighed and checked Cookie's wound - it was still bleeding, and his subordinate would certainly die at this rate. They needed help, and fast. But, something interrupted baker's train of thought. A faint rustling of bushes, and Sergeant Baker had his Pistol at the ready. An eerie and somewhat disturbing silence followed. Deciding that he was seeing things, Sergeant Baker lowered his pistol. It was then, however, that another one of the creatures pounced out from a nearby bush and attacked him. Caught totally off guard, Baker suffered a nasty gash across his body. Reacting quickly, he kicked the creature away, sending it recoiling backward. As Baker stood up, however, the creature fired an energy bullet that felt like being hit by a hot iron.

Clutching the wound in pain, Baker retreated and hid behind the nearest tree. However, the tree itself was alive, and one of its braches reached down to try and stab him. Narrowly rolling out of the way, he pulled out a grenade and caught sight of the tree's 'mouth'. Pulling the pin, he slipped it in and ducked for cover.

* * *

Marisa Kirisame was busy sorting out her potions and such when she heard an explosion in the distance.

"An explosion?" Marisa said to herself. "That can't be good."

Bringing out her broomstick, she climbed on and flew in the general direction of the explosion.

* * *

Sergeant Baker had, by this point, engaged the creature in hand-to-hand combat. Having being taught Marine Corps Martial Arts, he was able to hold his own and soon enough, the creature attempted to sink its fangs into his head. Only Baker's kevlar helmet saved his brain from becoming the creature's lunch, and the creature screeched in pain as it unsuccessfully attempted to bite through the sturdy kevlar helmet. Seizing an opportunity, Baker punched the creature in the chest, before executing a take-down which brought it to the ground. Drawing his pistol, Baker put three 9mm rounds in the creature's head, ending its life.

'Phew,' thought Baker. 'That was tricky.'

"Hahahahaha!" something laughed behind him. "You're rather slow ~da ze!"

Sergeant Baker immediately whirled around and pointed his gu at... A girl dressed as a witch? What was even more surprising was that the girl didn't look the least bit threatened by the fact that she was staring down the barrel of the gun. Rather, she looked more curious about what it exactly was.

"Who are you?" Baker demanded. "Identify yourself!"

The girl simply smiled and pointed her broomstick at him. "I'm Marisa Kirisame, ~da ze!"


	3. Chapter 3

Sergeant Baker lowered his pistol. "Marisa Kirisame, eh?" he asked the figure that stood before him. "Well, whatever."

Marisa set her broom down and looked expectantly at him. Deciding that she was not an enemy, he relaxed. "Could you give me a hand?" asked Baker. "My buddy over there is in pretty bad shape."

Nodding, Marisa led Baker (carrying the wounded Cookie) to her home, a pleasant cottage located deep within the Forest of Magic.

* * *

"So what's up with all this stuff you've got in here?" asked Sergeant Baker, looking around Marisa's house, which doubled as a magic shop. "I mean, these potions don't actually work, do they?"

"Oh but they do," said Marisa, treating Cookie's nasty shoulder wound. "Don't believe me? Go ahead and try one."

Shrugging, Baker picked a potion off a shelf and examined it closely. It was oddly coloured, and certainly didn't look very inviting. It looked like someone with a bad cold had coughed out his flam into the bottle before mixing it with mashed avocado and potatoes. "I'll pass," he said eventually.

"Well," said Marisa. "I've given your friend here a potion that should allow him to heal within the day."

Marisa then noticed his blank expression. "You're from the outside world, aren't you?" she asked.

"I guess you could say that." replied baker. 'So it was true,' he thought. 'Tubby wasn't lying when he said he thought we were in another world. Which reminds me, where is he? And RD, for that matter?'

Marisa interrupted his train of thought. "Seeing how you're from the Outside, there's someone who may be able to help you. Wait right here, please."

Sergeant Baker silently watched as Marisa left the house, before climbing onto her broomstick and flying off into the sky. Sighing, he sat down into a chair, pulled out a cigar and lighted it.

* * *

About half an hour later, Marisa returned, though she had brought someone with her. He wasn't particularly well-built, but his glasses suggested that he was reasonably knowledgeable.

"This is Rinnosuke Morichika," said Marisa. "He runs the Kourindou shop."

"Pleased to meet you," said Rinnosuke, extending his hand. Baker shrugged and shook it.

From there, Rinnosuke showed Baker various items from the Outside world and asked about them. These included everything from CDs to iPods to Mobile Phones and even an XBox 360. Their discussion went on for quite a while, and night soon fell. By this point, Cookie had come to, the potion speeding up the recovery process.

"So then," asked Rinnosuke. "Tomorrow we'll take you and your friend to the Hakurei Shrine where you'll meet a reasonably nice shrine maiden that'll help you get back home."  
Marisa sniggered.

"Home..." said baker. It seemed like a good idea, and he normally would accept right away. But, he still had to find Tubby and RD, and their chances of survival - given the deadly encounter earlier - probably weren't very high. And thus, he made an important decision. "I can't go back yet," Baker announced.

"Why's that?" asked Rinnosuke.

"Well," replied Baker. "You see..." And so he went on to explain everything from the start of their operation to look for 'terrorists' hiding in the forest to when he met Marisa earlier that day. And he put particular emphasis on his two missing squad-mates, RD and Tubby. "Yeah so, I can't really leave without them."

"Interesting." said Rinnosuke. "Well, good luck finding them. And Cookie seems to be waking up."

Sergeant Baker glanced over at Cookie, who was awake by this point. He was, however, shocked at the sight of seeing no traces of a wound on his shoulder - Marisa's potion had actually worked.

"Hey sarge!" Cookie called out.

Baker nodded and sighed in relief.

"Ahem," said Rinnosuke. "About your two missing friends, I suppose Marisa should be able to help you."

Marisa shrugged. "Meh, I suppose I've nothing else to do."

"But," said Baker. "Is there a place where Cookie and I can stock up on supplies?"

"Well there's the Human Village, which is about 20 miles from here." replied Rinnosuke.

"And I'll need a weapon," said Cookie. "My M4 is damaged beyond repair."

Sergeant Baker thought about this, and came to a conclusion. "Marisa," he said, turning to the witch. "Tomorrow, would you be able to take us to our camp? We need to find a weapon for Cookie to use."

Sighing, Marisa agreed. "Alright, but you'll have to give me directions."

* * *

The next morning, Sergeant Baker and Lance Corporal Cookie were able to hitch a ride on Marisa's broomstick.

"It's deceivingly peaceful from up here," said Cookie.

Within minutes, they arrived at the campsite, without having to go through the trouble of encountering Youkai in the Forest of Magic. Climbing off Marisa's broomstick, Baker set about packing everything up while Cookie searched for a replacement weapon. Eventually, he found one. And it wasn't the least bit disappointing. "This will do very nicely," said Cookie, a smile creasing his lips.

"Lucky b*****d..." grumbled Sergeant Baker.

* * *

Later that day, Marisa, Cookie and Baker were in the Human Village, and Cookie's and Baker's uniforms instantly attracted attention.

"Who are they?" asked a shop-keeper.

"Beats me," said another.

"Are they outsiders?"

Ignoring the hustled tones and comments being made about them, Baker and Cookie stood to one side as Marisa shopped around for supplies to use on their little quest. Cookie, looking around, was a bit taken aback at the various Youkai he saw living among the humans.

Baker, on the other hand, remained silent and made his own observations of his surroundings. His thoughts were mostly occupied by attempting to comprehend how the people here got by without the comforts offered by the modern world, but also how they had become separated from it in the first place.

"Well," said Marisa, interrupting Baker's thoughts again. "That just about covers the supplies bit. Is there anything else you wanted?"

Before Baker (or Cookie) could respond, the trio - and indeed the villagers around them - were alerted to the sound of large footsteps followed by the piercing sound of screaming people. A fleeing villager appeared around the nearest street corner, running for his life. "Run!" he shouted. "Run for you lives!"  
He was stopped when Sergeant Baker caught him. "Run from what?" Baker demanded.

The villager turned his head away slowly and pointed into the air. When Baker and Cookie looked up, they could hardly believe their eyes. There, a giant doll loomed over the nearest building with an ear-piercing screech that struck fear into the hearts of the villagers. Standing about 100 metres tall, it ripped a building from its foundations and hurled it at another, utterly destroying both.

"What is THAT?" asked Cookie.

"A giant doll, clearly!" replied Baker. "And it doesn't look friendly."

By this point, the other villagers were running and screaming from the giant doll as it lay waste to the Human Village. Immediately, Marisa flew up on her broomstick and sprayed it with energy stars. These made little impression on the giant doll, which simply ignored them and went about its business.

"This doll is pretty strong ~ze." said Marisa. "And there's too high a risk of collateral damage if I use my Master Spark!"

Back on the ground, Baker turned to Cookie. "Lance Corporal," he said. "We're taking that thing down!"

"Yes sarge!"

Marisa continued to launch conventional magic attacks at the giant doll, but failed to do any significant damage. Then, someone else flew up to assist her, Marisa instantly recognising who it was. "Reimu!"

"That's right!" replied Reimu. "Divine Spirit! Fantasy Seal!"

Rainbow coloured bolts of energy shot forth, and these did enough damage to warrant the doll's attention. With a demonic howl, it swatted them both away with one swift stroke of its arm.

"That doll is pretty fast for its size!" said Reimu.

"We can't fight at full strength!" said Marisa. "We might damage the village!"

"This is going to be tough..." said Reimu grimly.

Sergeant Baker, from the ground, unleashed a hail of gunfire from his M4 Carbine. While failing to do any real damage, the doll looked down at its new opponent. As the doll lashed out to attack, Baker rolled and took cover behind an abandoned cart. "Cookie!" he yelled out. "Bring out the Javelin, it's going to be a tough kill!"

"Yes sir!" replied Cookie, running out with his new weapon. Crouching next to Sergeant Baker, he brought his Javelin Missile-launcher to bear. Loading a missile inside the tube, Cookie looked into the thermal sights and locked on to the now-approaching giant doll.

"Cookie!" said Baker. "Fire when ready!"

Cookie squeezed the trigger, and the launcher released the missile leaving a distinct trail of smoke. The projectile slammed into the doll's neck, tearing off chunks of porcelain and the force of the impact causing the doll to recoil violently. Shrieking loudly, the giant doll staggered backward to prevent itself from toppling over. Enraged, it then sprinted toward the two soldiers at full speed.

"You got a lock?" asked Sergeant Baker.

Peering through the thermal sights once more, Cookie took aim again. "Target locked on!"

"Fire!"

Cookie unleashed another missile. It was another direct hit, and the blast knocked it against a building. Loading in the next missile, Cookie took aim again.

"I got a lock!" he said out loud.

"Fire the Javelin!" shouted Baker.

Another missile shot forth from the launcher. This time, it struck the doll in the neck, causing its head to slump down and hang by a thread. However, it was still capable of causing harm, though by now it was staggering around blindly.

"He's still in this fight!" shouted Sergeant Baker. "How many hits can this guy take?" Then, Baker noticed an eerie light glowing at its chest

"Cookie," he said. "Aim for the light on its chest!"

"Right!"

Cookie lowered his aim slightly, and locked on to the doll's chest before firing another missile. Upon impact, the doll let out a particularly high-pitched demonic screech before it began to tumble to the ground. But that presented a new problem...

"What the..." said Cookie. "It's going to fall on us!"

"Get down!" yelled Baker, shoving both himself and Cookie to the ground.

Though it seemed the two soldiers would meet their demise at the hands of a giant, falling doll, a rainbow-coloured beam shot over their heads and vapourised the part of the doll the would have crushed them. As the remains of the giant doll hit the ground, it kicked up a rather large cloud of dust and rubble.

* * *

When the dust cleared, Cookie and Baker found themselves miraculously unharmed. Dusting themselves off, they were faced with a large crowd of applauding villagers.

"Well, will you look at that." said Sergeant Baker.

"That was rather tricky." said Cookie. "I'm still not sure how we were able to pull it off."

It was then that Marisa and Reimu landed beside them. "You two didn't really have to intervene," said Marisa. "We had it more or less under control."

"Yeah right," replied Cookie. "I saw you and your friend here get swatted away in the first 15 seconds! Me and the good Sarge here did most of the work."

"Ahem," said Reimu. "May I remind you that it was Marisa's well-timed Master Spark that stopped you two from being crushed by the falling doll?"

"Oh?" said Cookie. "So that was you?"

"That's right ~da ze!" said Marisa, proudly.

"Well, thanks." said Cookie. "But it was us who delivered the killing blow."

"Yes all right you two, we get the idea." chipped in Sergeant Baker. He then turned to Reimu. "And who are you exactly?"

"I'm Reimu Hakurei, shrine maiden of the Hakurei Shrine." Reimu replied. "My job is to take care of the place, which serves as the border between your world and this one."

This was news to Sergeant Baker. "Did you happen to see two people who look like me pass through?" he asked.

Reimu shook her head. "Nope, hardly anyone comes by my shrine - chances are, your two friends are lost in Gensokyo somewhere."

Sergeant Baker scratched his head. Maybe the future would provide him with some answers, but something else was bothering him... "Where did the giant doll come from?" he asked.

"There's only one person I can think of," said Marisa. "Alice Margatroid ~da ze!"


	4. Chapter 4

Author's note: Sorry this chapter took so long, but I'm smack in the middle of exams. That being said, the next chapter will also be a long way off..

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Touhou or anything remotely affiliated with it blah blah blah.

* * *

Alice Margatroid stretched her arms as she clambered out of bed. It was a normal morning in the Forest of Magic, what with the sun shining and the usual flocks of Youkai ripping defenceless travellers limb from limb and all. After getting dressed, she walked out to her mailbox to collect the daily paper before heading inside and settling down to read the news.

"Giant Doll attacks Human Village?" Alice read out aloud. "Mysterious pair of Outsiders save the day? Oh man, Aya had a field day here."

As usual, Aya Shameimaru, the Tengu in charge of the 'Bunbunmaru' newspaper, was first on the scene of this rather large 'scoop'. It appeared that the Giant Doll that the joint efforts of Marisa Kirisame and Reimu Hakurei could not stop was brought down by a pair of plucky Outsiders and their Outside weaponry. After reading the article, she set the nespaper down and set off into the forest to train.

* * *

Elsewhere in the Forest of Magic, Private First Class Roy Davis, otherwise simply known as RD woke up from a rough night of seeking shelter from packs of ever-hungry Youkai. Though he had linked up with Tubby, the two Special Forces soldiers were hopelessly lost, their GPS equipment proving to be painfully useless in this new world. Creeping over to where Tubby was snoring way, he knocked on his helmet.

"Hey Tubby," he whispered. "Get your ass up. We're moving out."

"Blargh..." replied Tubby, still half-asleep. "Okay..."

Tubby picked up his M249 SAW while RD checked that the area was secure. Satisfied that they were reasonably safe, the pair continued their search for Sergeant Baker and Lance Corporal Cookie. As they trudged on, however, they were unaware of the fact that they were being watched...

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Human Village, a sullen Keine Kamishirasawa watched on as the two Outsiders showed off and explained their weaponry to her suddenly-very-interested class. 'Well,' she thought. 'At least they're somewhat interested in what they're being taught.'

"And so, kids," said Sergeant Baker to the class. "This is an M4 Carbine. It's designed to kill your enemy quickly and efficiently. Calibre, 5.56 by 45mm round. Effective range, up to 360 metres. Rate of fire, 800 rounds per minute."

"Uh, sarge," chipped in Cookie. "I'm not sure these kids even have a clue what you're on about."

"Good point."

"And we really should be searching for Rd and Tubby."

Cookie's words stung Sergeant Baker into action. "You're right! I had completely forgotten about them!"

In the skies above Gensokyo, Marisa Kirisame and Reimu Hakurei were flying in the general direction of the Forest of Magic.

"You sure Alice is behind all of this, Marisa?" asked Reimu.

"Of course ~da ze!" replied Marisa. "I can't think of anyone else who was responsible for yesterday's attack on the Human Village!"

"Good point," replied Reimu. "Wait, you're not going to fight her just like that, are you?"

"Of course not!' snapped Marisa. "You'll be fighting with me!"

Reimu's heart sank.

* * *

RD and Tubby had been walking for over an hour, when they heard rustling in some nearby bushes. Without thinking, the two of them hit the deck and sought cover behind a large boulder.

"What was that?" whispered Tubby.

"I don't know," replied RD. "But I'm sure its-"

He was cut off as something appeared beside them. A simple doll, by the looks of it. The two men stared at its small, beady eyes.

"Where did that thing come from?" asked Tubby. "It looks kind of cute..."

The doll then pulled out a sword. Tubby opened his mouth to scream, but was stopped as RD fired a round from his M16 rifle, utterly ripping the doll apart.

"What was THAT?" Tubby asked again, now very much afraid.

Seemingly in response for the destruction of the first doll, more of them poured from the surrounding bushes.

"Well sh*t!" yelled RD. After seeing all of the surrounding dolls draw swords, instinct kicked in. "Open fire!"

The two men blazed away with their weapons, cutting down many dolls as they swarmed in to kill them.

"Grenade out!" yelled RD, tossing a frag grenade into the mass of killer dolls. The explosion destroyed many of them, and RD and Tubby seized the opportunity to make a run for the opening they had just created.

As they ran, however, a platoon-sized group of dolls armed with primitives rifles appeared out of nowhere and pinned the two men down.

"Ambush!" exclaimed Tubby.

"Hostiles in those bushes," screamed RD amidst the volley of rifle-fire. "Tubby, hold them from here. I'm going to go round and try to flank them!"

"Right!"

As Tubby poured hot lead into the incessant waves of dolls, RD got down low and creapt to the rear of their lines. Readying several grenades, he pulled their pins and tossed them over.

A series of large explosions followed, as well as the destruction of the doll 'army'. When the dust settled, RD checked the surrounding area. "... Clear!"

The two men stood up from their positions and consolidated their position, but were interrupted when a figure swooped over and landed in front of them. The figure was not even phased when RD and Tubby pointed their guns at it. Rather, it stepped forward and addressed the both of them. "You've done well to defeat my collection of dolls," it said. "But now you have to defeat me."

"Who are you?" asked RD, thumbing the trigger.

"Oh how rude of me," the figure replied. "I'm Alice Margatroid. I make dolls for a living."

"Damn right," snapped RD. "They nearly killed us!"

Alice ignored him and pulled out a doll that looked different from the others. "See here? This is my favourite doll - I call her Shanghai."

"What are you, 8 years old?" RD mocked. "My kid cousin plays with dolls. You'd make great friends with her."

Alice ignored him once more, and Shanghai pulled out a rather ornate sword. "You won't be disappointed having my Shanghai as your opponent."

Tubby rasied his machine gun, but was stopped by RD. "No," he said. "Tubby, you kick back and watch. This one's all mine. Here, hold my Rifle."

RD handed Tubby his M16, and pulled out his combat knife. RD had grown up in a rough neighbourhood in the alleyways of his hometown, and thus had a lot of knife-fighting experience. Tubby nodded slowly and hid behind the safety of a nearby bush.

"Oh? You seem to be confident," remarked Alice. "Now I'll give you one chance. You can surrender now or be destroyed."

"Tough talk," replied RD. "Now let's see you back it up!"

Alice grinned. Most of her other opponents (barring protagonists) would have fled by this point. "I won't hold back, then." she said, before Shanghai surged forward with a forward strike.

RD jumped to the side and took a swipe, only to be swiftly blocked by Shanghai's sword. 'It's fast,' he noted.

The two combatants continued to relentlessly attack each other, with neither side gaining the advantage. Then, RD scored a lucky hit, tearing Shanghai's left arm off. "All right!" he exclaimed.

"Not yet," said Alice. "Looks like I have to use a Spell Card! Curse 'Eerily Luminous Shanghai Dolls'!"

"Eh?"

Alice somehow mustered another large group of dolls, and, along with Shanghai, fired a titanic amount of danmaku (lit. bullet curtain for thsoe who don't know) in all directions.

"Sh*t!" yelled Rd and he took cover behind a tree. However, the tree proved to be no reasonable defence against the danmaku barrage, and it soon burned away. By then, however, the barrage had finished. Seizing the chance, he dashed out, screaming at the top of his lungs and plunged his combat knife into Shanghai's head. Withdrawing the knife, he watched as Shanghai fell to the ground. Before he could claim victory, however, RD was shocked to see Shanghai get back on its feet and back into a combat stance.

"But how?" asked RD, a look of horror and shock on his face.

"I should remind you that Shanghai is a puppet." said Alice. "No matter what you do to her, she will always get up and fight again, as long as her strings are intact!"

A wicked smile crossed RD's face. "So that's how it is?" he asked.

"O-of course!" replied Alice. "How else do you think I move my dolls?"

"Then," said RD as he held up his knife. "What if I were to do this!"

Seemingly throwing his knife at Shanghai, Alice simply moved Shanghai to the side. But though Rd had missed Shanghai, he still was able to cut something...

"So desperate that you have to throw your knife now?" asked Alice. "I thought for sure you'd have put up a bit of a fight!"

"No comment." replied RD blankly as he fixated his glare on Shanghai.

"Suit yourself," said Alice. Twirling her hands in preparation for a flashy finishing move, Alice was shocked to find that Shanghai wasn't responding. Instead, the doll collapsed to the ground.

"Wh-what did you do to my Shanghai?" wailed Alice.

"The readers will laugh at you for not realising it," RD chuckled. Picking up Shanghai, he played with the now-cut strings. "I simply cut your strings! That is the ultimate weakness of dolls and their puppeteers!"

Sighing, Alice walked over and took Shanghai from RD's hands. "Whatever. I'll have her repaired in no time at all. In the meantime, why don't you guys come over to my place? I'd certainly like to know what you guys were doing out here in the first place.

RD glanced over to Tubby, and they shrugged their shoulders. "Yeah, alright."

Another half-hour of walking brought them to Alice's cottage. Waiting at the doorway, however, there stood two figures.

"All right!" proclaimed the first figure, revealing herself to be a rather annoyed Marisa Kirisame. "This should be good! Alice, your going to explain why you set a giant doll loose on the Human Village!"

"What?" Alice replied, looking horrified. "Don't be ridiculous, Marisa, I don't have the time nor will to even lay a finger of damage unto the Human Village."

"Then," said Reimu, the second figure at the door. "Who else has the capability to create a combat-capable giant doll? Last year you built a smaller and similar doll to the one that attacked the Village and tested it against Cirno (see Touhou 12.3)."

"Uh, what's going on?" asked RD.

"That's right!" chipped in Marisa, ignoring RD. "Now, if you're not going to admit and explain, then we'll just use force!"

Alice sighed. "Are the two of you threatening me?"


	5. Chapter 5

Sparks flew, and the air became thick and stuffy with the immense magic being thrown about in Alice's house. Marisa Kirisame and Reimu Hakurei engaged Alice Margatroid in battle, while RD and Tubby watched from the safety of a nearby shrubbery.

"I gotta say," remarked RD casually. "They look quite cute in a cat-fight."

Tubby, however, paid no attention to his friend for he was already trying to record the spectacle (to him, anyway) on his mobile phone. "Soon as we get back, this is going up on my blog!"

Meanwhile, Alice, who had a good portion of her dolls destroyed or disabled in the previous chapter - including Shanghai - was therefore severely weakened and struggling. Reimu threw several ofcards at Alice, all of which promptly latched on to her before detonating. Marisa then swooped in and whacked Alice over the back of the head with her broomstick.

"Too slow!" she taunted. "Without your dolls, you're nothing ~ze! Now, will you tell us why you set a giant doll loose on the Human Village?"

"If I knew anything, I would tell you!" shouted Alice.

"Fine then." said Reimu. "We will temporarily stop until you spill the beans. Out with it!"

Sighing and struggling to gasp for breath, Alice gave her testimony. "Well," she began. "I do remember creating a giant doll that even dwarfed the original in terms of size, but I don't ever recall giving it the command to attack the Human Village. Besides, you know me - I was human once. Why would I attack my own kind?"

"Good point," said Reimu. "But, who else has the capability to create dolls like that?"

"She could be lying!" said Marisa angrily. "I say we blast her right here and give her another beating! Master Spa-"

"But by the same token, Alice might be telling the truth," Reimu said quickly, cutting Marisa off. "There would be no legitimate motive for her to attack the Village, yet she's the only one who could make a combat-capable giant doll."

"What are you suggesting, Reimu?" asked Alice.

"The possibility is slim, but it might be that someone else - like a powerful magician - took control of your doll, stole it, and attacked the Village."

Alice sighed in relief. "Well, I guess that's our most plausible theory at this point. Where is the doll now? Is the village okay?"

Before answering her question, Reimu seized an opportunity and looked into Alice's eyes. She was then convinced that they showed genuine concern for the humans at the village, and thus was not responsible for the attack. "The giant doll was hauled to the scrap heap and dismantled. No one was seriously injured or killed - cuts and bruises at the worst. It caused minor damage to the city's infrastructure before being brought down by us and two, erm, Outsiders."

"Like those two hiding behind that bush there?" asked Alice, pointing to RD and Tubby who promptly waved back.

"Yes," replied Reimu. "Very much like them. Actually, I think they're part of the same group."

* * *

General Armstrong sat at his desk and pondered about the situation. Fireteam Delta had been sent in to investigate Delta Whiskey (**D**eath **W**orld) over a week ago. And they still hadn't returned. Then, his thoughts were interrupted as a Colonel walked in.

"Sir," he said, saluting. "Sorry to intrude, but I've just been told to inform you that the four members of Fireteam Delta have been presumed KIA. Also, the Pentagon has approved Operation Hellfire and preparations are complete. Just say the word and-"

"That won't be necessary, Colonel." said General Armstrong. "Remember, our mission in Delta Whiskey at this point is to investigate the source of nuclear radiation detected in the area. Excessive force is not required at this point, chiefly because Fireteam Delta was only sent in as a scout unit."

"With all due respect, sir," replied the Colonel. "That hasn't worked out too well. This turn of events only confirms that the owners of this nuclear material are hostile to us, and they don't want us looking at what they've done. My conclusion? Terrorists who are developing nuclear weapons. Of that I am sure."

General Armstrong leant back in his chair. The Colonel raised some very good points, but at the same time did not want to expend valuable men and resources just to root out some 'terrorists'. He and the other higher-ups of the US Armed Forces were already in a bit of a kerfuffle with the current situation in Afghanistan and Iraq, and now this. Sighing, he came to a decision.

"Send in a helicopter unit," said the General. "One Blackhawk carrying two fireteams and an officer escorted by an AH-64 Apache. If they come back damaged, consider Operation Hellfire approved."

Snapping back to attention, the Colonel saluted. "Yes sir!"

* * *

Lieutenant Bailey, an American officer of British descent, sat in the hold of his Blackhawk Helicopter alongside the two fire-teams that were to aid him in his mission.

"What exactly are we looking for, sir?" asked one of the sergeants.

"We'll be investigating two things, sergeant," replied Bailey. "First of all, a series of attacks and disappearances that have occurred in this very forest. Secondly, we're investigating some sort of nuclear radiation source as well. HQ wasn't very specific in the briefing, but we are authorised to use force if we are attacked."

"Understood sir." said the Sergeant.

The pilot of the Blackhawk then addressed all of the men through the intercom system. "We're approaching the LZ," he said. "Prepare to deploy."

The Blackhawk flew in and landed in a clearing, all the while being covered by the Apache helicopter flying above. The instant the Blackhawk touched the ground, Lieutenant Bailey and the two fire-teams scrambled out and consolidated their positions. Within seconds, Bailey was already giving out orders.

"Fireteam Oscar, secure the area!" he said above the whir of the Blackhawk's rotors. "Fireteam Tango, remain here and set up camp!"

"Yes sir!"

Picking up the radio, Bailey then contacted the helicopters. "Blackhawk, head back to base and get us some supplies - the chaps up at HQ didn't give us sufficient rations. We'll also need fuel and ammo. Over."

"Copy that, Lieutenant." came the reply. The Blackhawk then lifted off, and headed back to base as instructed. The Apache then landed in the clearing in order to conserve fuel. Within three hourss of their arrival, the Forest had fallen silent with the only noise being the rustling of leaves and the wind. And already it was sunset.

"Right lads," said Bailey. "Sun's going down, so rest up for the night - we move out tomorrow morning at first light."

And with that, Bailey settled into his tent and hunkered down.

* * *

Over at the Human Village, Sergeant Baker and Cookie were rejoined with RD and Tubby at the Human Village, glad to see each other again. But because the author was lazy and terrible at writing these sorts of scenes, this section will be omitted.

"So," said Sergeant Baker to Reimu. "You can get us back to our own world, right?"

"Yes, that's right." replied Reimu. "If you're not in a hurry, I could have you over at the Shrine tomorrow and have you back to your world by the afternoon."

The four members of Fireteam Delta looked at teach other, shrugged, and agreed. "Alright then," said Baker. "Tomorrow it is."


	6. Chapter 6

Night fell on the Human Village. As usual, it became rather quiet, with small gatherings of nocturnal Youkai here and there and humans performing night work on the repairs left by the giant doll attack. On the whole, however, it wasn't nearly as busy as it was during the day. These were the observations made by Utsuho Reiuji as she stood on a distant hill.

"Now," she said. "Where are those two?"

Her sharp eyes scanned the village for any signs of Reimu and Marisa, and was still feeling bitter at her earlier defeat (see Subterranean Animism). And it didn't take her long to identify the small lodge where the two were sleeping in. Spreading her wings, Utsuho flew up into the night sky, and aimed her arm cannon at the lodge.

* * *

Reimu Hakurei was rudely awoken from her sleep when the roof above her was blown off by a beam of nuclear energy. Sitting up immediately, a second's glance alerted her to Utsuho hovering in the distance, arm-cannon smoking from the previous hit. Silently cursing, Reimu tried to wake Marisa Kirisame up.

"Hey!" Reimu shouted. "Wake up! We're under attack!"

Marisa moaned for a little while, before turning over. "Not yet... Reimu. It's too early..."

Gritting her teeth, Reimu turned around just in time to see Utsuho land in the room through the opening she had created. A twisted grin creased the Hell Raven's lips as she aimed her arm-cannon at Reimu. Unable to reach for her spell cards or her pointy stick, she helplessly stared down the barrel of Utsuho's arm cannon.

"Reimu," said Utsuho softly. "Here's my revenge for my earlier defeat. I'll take Marisa with you, too!"

And then out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a flash and a loud banging noise. An instant later, Utsuho was thrown out onto the streets before staggering back onto her feet.

"Aargh!" she grunted, rubbing a flesh wound on her shoulder. "Who did that?"

She looked up to see Sergeant Baker holding a pistol aimed at her head.

"I'm trying to sleep, dammit!" he yelled.

This delay was enough for Reimu to snatch up her spell cards along with her Gohei, before flying up and performing a drop kick on Utsuho. However, her opponent was quick to recover and landed a nasty kick with her left leg into Reimu's stomach.

"Agh!" Reimu coughed. "I forgot Utsuho's left leg was made from concrete!"

Leaping back and avoiding another nasty kick, Reimu took flight and used a spell card. "Fantasy Seal!"

"Not good enough!" shouted Utsuho, as she simply dashed behind a building, leading all of Reimu's shots to hit it and bring the building down. Utsuho then lunged from behind the rubble and resulting smoke, and rammed into Reimu, sending her flying backward into another building. As Reimu struggled on to her feet, Utusho used a spell card of her own.

"Explosion sign! Giga flare!"

And before long, the Human Village was engulfed in explosions and flames...

* * *

Two scouts from Lieutenant Bailey's group finally reached the outskirts of the Forest of Magic, before they noticed the explosions and eerie red glow from the fires in the distance.

"Should we alert the Lieutenant?" one asked.

"Yeah," replied the other. "I think we should."

The two soldiers then pulled back into the depths of the Forest of Magic, absolute darkness at night meaning that they had to rely on thermal visors.

* * *

By the early morning, flames had engulfed the Human Village. Another explosion sent Reimu flying backward, and by this point Marisa had also woken up. Even with the joint effort, however, the two were still getting trounced by Utsuho, who simply called in explosions whenever the pair attempted anything.

"This is difficult," said Marisa. "She's alot stronger than before."

"Yeah," agreed Reimu. "She's now so fast that we're too slow to even defend ourselves!"

Utsuho aimed her arm-cannon again, but was stopped by a hail of gunfire from Baker's team. "Let 'er have it!" yelled the Sergeant, who himself was holding the Javelin missile launcher. Acquring a lock on Utsuho's ridiculously large heat signature, he squeezed the trigger and released a missile. Utsuho, however, evaded it with ease with a series of fancy maneuvers. The missile slammed into a building, causing even more damage.

"... Oops." said Baker.

Utsuho then turned to face her new attackers. "I don't know who you people are," she said arrogantly. "But you're annoying! And have terrible aim. Now outta my way!"

A single blast from her arm-cannon was enough to immobilise and severely stun the Fireteam, and Utsuho then turned her attention back to Reimu and Marisa.

"Baker Gunsou-san!" Marisa and Reimu called out.

"It's no use!" said Utsuho. "Your stupid friends won't save you now!"

Marisa and Reimu closed their eyes and prepared for the worst... Or so they would have, had a large steel object with spinning wings not emerged from behind a building.

"What is THAT?" asked Marisa.

* * *

"This is callsign Arrow calling Lieutenant Bailey," said the Apache pilot. "We've sighted a major source of nuclear radiation. It looks like a, uh, female with wings."

"A female with what?" replied Bailey, very much surprised.

"She is armed and has two civilians at gun-point - they might be hostages. Requesting clearance to engage."

"Roger that, Arrow, you may engage the target."

The pilot nodded to the gunner, who nodded back and peered into his helmet-mounted gunsight. Aiming at Utusho, he fired a three-round burst from the Apache's 30mm chain-gun. All three rounds slammed into Utusho's back, causing her to lurch forward and stumble.

"What now?" she grunted. Witnessing the Apache hovering in front of her, she clenched her teeth and cursed. "This disorderly mob keeps coming one after another!"

Flying up, she fired her arm-cannon at the Apache, but the pilot evaded the beam rather swiftly. The gunner opened up again with the chain-gun, Utsuho being able to dodge many of the incoming rounds.

* * *

Sergeant Baker staggered to his feet, and dusted himself of rubble.

"That was close," he muttered. "You guys alright?"

"Yeah," replied RD. "We're fine. A little shaken, though."

"That was really close." said Tubby. "Where'd that Utsuho person get to?"

* * *

Utsuho performed a barrel roll and avoided yet another burst of cannon fire from the Apache. But, the gunner had already anticipated her movements. "Target lock!"

"Fire!' said the pilot. "Quickly!"

The gunner fired a Hellfire missile at Utsuho, and the force of the impact sent her tumbling to the ground before landing in a crumpled heap on the streets of the Human Village.

"Bullseye." said the gunner. "Weapon impact confirmed."

"Finish her off," said the pilot hastily.

"Roger."

But the missile had not even hit Utsuho, only stunning her momentarily. In an instant, however, Utsuho got up and released a burst of radiation, messing around with the Apache's electronics and effectively rendering it useless.

"Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!" exclaimed the pilot. "The rotor! Our torque has dropped!"

"My HMD is malfunctioning, all I see is static!" said the gunner, taking off his helmet-mounted gunsight.

Utsuho simply sniggered. "I must congratulate you for a most worthy fight, strange metal beast." she said arrogantly. "But this is where it ends!"

Utsuho then brought her arm-cannon to bear and destroyed the Apache with one well-aimed hit to the engine. Or so that would have happened, if it wasn't for an incredibly powerful rainbow-coloured beam that hit her head on and threw her into a building. Pulling herself from the rubble, she looked around for the new attacker. "Who did that?" she grumbled.

Before Utsuho stood her answer. Marisa Kirisame and Reimu Hakurei had intervened in the nick of time, with Marisa blasting her with a Master Spark.

"You two!" Utsuho raged. "I won't let you interfer-"

Utsuho was cut off as a bullet knocked her off her feet. "Aaaaagh!" she cried out in pain. "Who is it now?"

There stood Lieutenant Bailey, his .44 Revolver smoking and pointed directly at her. "Right then," he said in his distinct British accent. "I don't know who you are or where this place is, but you've been causing quite alot of disturbance to the locals."

He was then flanked by Fireteams Oscar and Tango, as well as Sergeant Baker's team.

"Kindly die here for us please." he said calmly, before him and his men opened fire.

Utsuho, however, simply flew up into the sky and fled the scene. "You haven't seen the last of me!" she yelled out. "You'll pay for this!"

Lieutenant Bailey, lowering his weapon, simply spat on the ground and made clear his opinion of Utsuho Reiuji. "What a poof."

* * *

By the evening that day, the repair work on the Human Village had resumed. However, it was further hampered by damage from the battle, mainly caused by attacks by Utsuho. Meanwhile, Sergeant Baker and his men were formally introduced to Lieutenant Bailey and his retinue of two Fireteams.

"I'm Lieutenant Bailey," said Bailey. "Pleasure to meet you, Sergeant."

"Likewise," replied Sergeant Baker. "You British?"

"Like yourself, I am an American, but was brought up in a British family." replied Bailey. "Strange world isn't it?"

"Yeah." said Baker. "Anyway, why are you guys here?"

"Ah, you see, we were ordered to find and retrieve you and your men..." Bailey went on to explain his mission in locating and rescuing Sergeant Baker's Fireteam, before going on to detail the reports of unusually high radiation readings coming from the location of the Forest in the real-world. "... And thus we ended up here and promptly saved you and those two girls from certain death. As of now, I'm taking command of this investigation into the radiation reports. The four of you can head back to base and report to the General before he publicly pronounces you all dead."

Sergeant Baker took a minute to consult with his men. "Well, how about it?" he asked.

"Looks like we don't have much choice," said Cookie. "We can't exactly go home once we're pronounced dead."

"And just when I was beginning to like this place," said RD. "Oh well."

Sensing the negative mood in the atmosphere, Lieutenant Bailey approached Fireteam Delta with a proposition. "My men and I are new to this area, and I'll need someone I can trust to act as an advisor of sorts. One of you may opt to remain behind and assisst me in this investigation."

RD, Tubby and Cookie immediately pointed to Sergeant Baker.

"The good Sarge is who you're after," said RD. "He's good with the locals here."

Cookie and Tubby quickly nodded in agreement.

"Well, that's that then." said Bailey. "Sergeant Baker, you will remain here with me to act as my assistant for the time being."

"Yes sir!" replied Baker, saluting. "But, is it okay?"

"We'll be fine." said Cookie. "There's nothing left for us here anyway."

"But," said Tubby. "Getting back to our world will be a problem."

"Leave that to me," said Reimu. "I can easily transport the three of you back to your world from the Hakurei Shrine."

"She's right!" said Marisa, chipping in. "That's essentially her job as the sole caretaker of the Hakurei Shrine."

"Right then," said Lieutenant Bailey. "Before we go our separate ways, what do you say we all take a romp down to the nearest pub and swig the night away?"

His suggestion was met with strange stares from everyone, particularly Marisa and Reimu, who hadn't a clue what he was on about.

"What's a 'pub'?" asked Reimu.

"And what does 'swig' mean?" asked Marisa.

And thus, Lieutenant Bailey spent the rest of the evening explaining the terms 'pub' and 'swig' to Reimu and Marisa, who in turn had taken him to the local Izakaya where they, Sergeant Baker's men, the Apache crew and Fireteams Oscar and Tango spent the night drinking and holding a makeshift farewell party for RD, Cookie and Tubby. The event lasted the entire night and left the group drunken, tired and with severe hangovers the next morning.

* * *

Author's notes:

Gunsou is the Japanese word for Sergeant.

An Izakaya is the Japanese equivalent of a tavern.


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning, Marisa groggily woke up to the noise of Lieutenant Bailey barking orders of some kind. Rubbing her eyes and looking outside, she saw him in front of a neat formation of the Outsider soldiers, who were standing unusually straight with their hands locked into their sides. Reimu, along with a crowd's worth of passing Youkai, were watching with looks of genuine amusement.

"What's all this then?" whispered Marisa, walking over to Reimu.

"Bailey-chuui calls it 'drill'." replied Reimu. "I don't know what the purpose of it is, but it looks pretty impressive."

The Lieutenant barked several more commands, and eventually the Outsider soldiers were ordered to march up the street, drawing even more stares. What was particularly notable was Lieutenant Bailey's use of an ornate ceremonial sabre that he would use "for ceremonial purposes".

* * *

Utsuho Reiuji, significantly wounded after her failed attempt to kill Reimu Hakurei and Marisa Kirisame, approached her home in Youkai Mountain. Flying into a cavern into the mountain side, she descended into the depths and into the Underground Geyser Centre operated by Kappa workers. Landing on a perch, she checked her wounds.

"Those guys," she grumbled to herself. "They'll pay for this humiliation!"

"Utsuho-sama!" a Kappa medic called out. "You're hurt pretty badly! Hurry, we'll get you into the infirmary."

Nodding, she was led to the infirmary where her wounds were treated, and while doing so gave her time to revise her plans for revenge. 'One day,' she thought to herself. 'One day, I'll get back at those two. And the Outsiders.'

Just outside the infirmary was an assembly line, where Kappa engineers were busily constructing Goliath Dolls not unlike the one that had attacked the Human Village two days earlier. Something sinister was being conceived in the depths of Youkai Mountain's Underground Geyser Centre, doubtless it wasn't going to be anything pleasant.

* * *

At around midday, Lieutenant Bailey and Sergeant Baker saw Reimu, Tubby, RD and Cookie off as they were taken to the Hakurei Shrine to be transported back to the Human World.

"Well," said Sergeant Baker once they had gone. "I'll miss them."

"Yes," agreed Lieutenant Bailey, sipping his cup of tea. "Now, let's get straight down to business shall we? We have all manner of problems before we can actually start working."

Pointing to the AH-64 Helicopter parked in a field, Bailey stated the first issue to be resolved. "That chopper has been flying all of yesterday and the day before, and now it's dangerously low on fuel. I believe it would prove to be an invaluable asset to our Operations here. Do you, per chance, know anywhere where we can get fuel?"

"In this place?" asked Baker. "Not a chance. I doubt the locals here even know what Fuel is."

"Well, bugger!" replied Bailey.

Baker then, however, caught sight of Marisa inspecting her magic potions tucked away into her pockets. It was then that a seemingly absurd idea came to mind.

"Uh, Lieutenant," he said, nervously. "What do you think of using Marisa's potions as a substitute for fuel?"

Spitting a mouthful of tea out, Bailey looked at Baker as if he was a madman. "I beg your pardon? Potions?"

"Correct," replied Baker. "With all due respect, sir, do you have a better idea? I mean, you do want that fuel, right?"

Reluctantly, the Lieutenant had to agree with that last part. "I suppose we could give it a try..."

* * *

Later that afternoon, the Apache crew watched with interest as Marisa poured some of her magic potions into the fuel tank of the AH-64 helicopter. Once convinced that enough was put in, she turned to the Apache crew.

"All right!" she called out. "It should be okay to use this, er, machine."

Nodding, the pilot and gunner climbed into their positions. "Hey, this thing isn't going to blow up as soon as we start the engine, is it?" asked the pilot.

"Only one way to find out." replied the gunner, signalling to Marisa to get clear of the helicopter.

Gingerly, the pilot started the engine and the Apache's rotor whirred into life. Youkai and townsfolk alike watched in awe as this strange machine lifted off into the air, generating alot of wind turbulence as it did so. Lieutenant Bailey, watching from a safe distance, picked up the radio and contacted the pilot. "How are things in there? Everything okay?"

"Yes sir," the pilot replied. "All systems are in the green and functioning normally. Looks like that potion stuff can substitute for fuel after all."

Bailey didn't even have to turn around to notice the 'See-I-told-you-so' look beginning to form on Sergeant Baker's face. "All right," he said. "The test is complete. You may land now."

"Yes sir."

* * *

Shortly thereafter, Bailey revealed the next problem to Sergeant Baker. "Right," he began. "Where do we begin searching?"

"I could try ask the locals, sir." replied Sergeant Baker, after a bit of a silence. "But, I doubt any of them have a clue as to what radiation is."

"Well, give it a try anyway." suggested Bailey. "After all, what choice have we got?"

"Good point, sir."

And so Bailey and Baker went around the Human Village, asking the local Youkai and Human population if they knew anything about 'radiation' or 'nuclear weapons'. The two most common responses were "What are you on about?" or a blank stare. Marisa, however, offered a suggestion.

"Why don't you two pay a visit to Patchouli's Library in the Scarlet Devil Mansion?" she asked. "It's got _millions_ of books, and maybe you'll find what you need there."

"Patchouli's Library? Scarlet Devil Mansion?" asked Baker. "How do we get there?"

Marisa simply smiled. "I was just kidding! You'll never get in there. I doubt you'll even make it through the front door."

"Well," said Bailey. "How hard can it be? We have guns, for crying out loud! There's a reason the combat soldier is the most dangerous human in existence, and I doubt some pompous clot and his mansion will stan-"

Marisa smile grew even wider. "Several things wrong with that, Bailey-chuui. First off, you're not up against mere human beings in this world - I can attest to that."

Bailey winced slightly.

"Secondly," continued Marisa. "Scarlet Devil Mansion is owned by a female vampire named Remilia, and I don't think she'll take very kindly to you calling her a 'clot'."

"Well," chipped in Baker. "Couldn't we just fight our way through?"

"It's not really that simple," replied Marisa. "The Gatekeeper should be easy enough, but then you'll have to go through the Chief Maid, who can stop and alter the flow of time! And Remilia herself is no slouch either - don't underestimate the speed of a vampire! And then Remilia's younger sister is-"

"Yes all right then," interrupted Lieutenant Bailey. "I think we get the picture. But we need that information. Is there, perhaps, a way to access Patchouli's Library without starting a fight?"

"You could ask Remilia very, very nicely, but I'll have to come with you in case something happens."

Looking at each other and shrugging, Bailey and Baker subconsciously agreed on a plan. If they were to get the information on the source of radiation, this would be their best bet. "All right," said Baker. "Lead the way."

Leaving behind the Apache Helicopter and Fireteams Oscar and Tango, Lieutenant Bailey and Sergeant Baker were escorted by Marisa on foot to the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

* * *

Later that day, just outside the Scarlet Devil Mansion...

"Um, Baker-gunsou," asked Marisa. "Why are we hiding in these bushes? The mansion is just in front of us!"

"Exactly," Baker whispered. "When you're trying to infiltrate a facility, the idea is not to be seen."

"But I thought you were going to ask Remilia nicely?"

"I don't think an upper-class vampire with a fearsome reputation is about to let just anyone browse through her library, right?"

Marisa's face met with her palm. "Well, whatever."

Bailey then crept over to Baker. "I've scouted the Mansion's outer perimeter," the Lieutenant whispered. "There's only one guard, and she's asleep."

'Typical,' Marisa thought to herself.

"What I'll do is," Bailey continued. "I'll knock the gatekeeper out and let Marisa guard her until she comes to. Meanwhile you, Sergeant, scale the wall and take cover in the front garden and wait until I climb over as well."

"Where do I climb over, sir?" asked Baker.

"That section, on your 2 o'clock at 15 yards." replied Bailey, pointing to a seemingly ordinary part of the Mansion's outer wall. "A number of bricks are sticking out, so climbing over shouldn't be too hard. Clear on that?"

"Yes sir," replied Baker, loading his M4 Carbine.

"Good. Let's move out."

Bailey and Baker split up and stealthily moved toward their objectives, leaving Marisa alone in the shrubbery. Bailey quietly crept up to Hong Meiling the gatekeeper - who was fast asleep.

'For someone with such a fearsome reputation, you'd think that the gatekeeper would at least be somewhat competent,' Bailey thought to himself.

Maneuvering behind Hong's chair, Bailey struck a spot on the back of her neck that knocked her unconscious. Using improvised materials, Bailey tied her hands and legs up before placing masking tape over her mouth. Bailey then proceeded to quietly carry her back to Marisa's position.

"Keep watch over her when she comes to," whispered Bailey to Marisa.

Meanwhile, Sergeant Baker had scaled the designated wall and landed in the Scarlet Devil Mansion's front garden. Immediately, he rolled behind a thick bush before surveying the area with a pair of binoculars. Two fairy maids were 'patrolling' the garden with their broomsticks in hand, presumably on cleaning duty. The balconies were clear, and there were very few windows on the Mansion itself. Lieutenant Bailey soon scaled the same wall, before taking position next to Sergeant Baker.

"What do you see?" Bailey whispered.

"Two maids," replied Baker. "One at 11 o'clock at 40 yards, and another at 2 o'clock, 50 yards. We'll have to take them both out at the same time - I suggest I take the one on the left and you go after the one on the right."

"Right you are, Sergeant." acknowledged Lieutenant Bailey, before creeping off through the garden.

Baker waited until his target maid strayed over to his location to sweep the pavement around it, before leaping up like a bear and knocking the poor fairy unconscious. Baker's Special Forces training meant that it happened so quickly that the unsuspecting maid did not have time to scream. The other maid looked over, but was promptly hit on the back of the neck by Bailey's .44 Revolver. The two soldiers then tied the hands and feet of the unconscious fairies before hiding them in the bushes.

"Front garden secure," said Sergeant Baker, aiming around and checking the area with his weapon.

"Good," said Lieutenant Bailey, doing the same with his revolver.

Stealthily, the two soldiers crept up and took position at the front door of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Bailey signalled to Baker, who nodded back. The Sergeant quietly opened the door, before peering in and scanning the area with his weapon.

"Clear," he whispered after seeing that no-one was coming.

Lieutenant Bailey promptly crept in and covered the left side of the foyer, followed by Sergeant Baker who covered the right.

'This place is huge!' thought Bailey. 'Why do I get the feeling the foyer itself feels bigger than what we saw outside?'

Turning to Sergeant Baker, he called him over. "Sergeant, this place is massive," whispered Bailey. "I suggest we split up and look for the library by ourselves. I'll search the left side of the mansion and you take the right. Be careful, I don't like the feel of this place."

"Understood, sir."

The two soldiers then went their separate ways.

* * *

Hong Meiling, after being knocked out by Lieutenant Bailey and subsequently tied up and muffled, finally came to.

"Ah, you're awake." said Marisa, looking down on her.

Hong tried to talk, but was muffled. What's worse, her hands and feet were tied together. Marisa simply smiled and unmuffled her, allowing Hong to speak properly.

"What happened?" she asked. "How did I get here? What's going on?"

"You fell asleep, as usual." replied Marisa. "And now you're here."

"I failed as gatekeeper again..." mumbled Hong. "Why did you do this?"

"What? Oh it wasn't me. The ones you're after have already infiltrated the mansion."

"Then I must alert Lady Remilia immediately that there are intruders! LADY RE-"

Hong was cut off as Marisa knocked her out with her broomstick.

* * *

Sergeant Baker cautiously advanced through the seemingly endless corridors of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, evading the numerous maids and workers as well as being sure to check his sides and rear every so often. Soon enough, however, he heard another set of footsteps approaching. Quickly taking cover behind a flashy ornament, he saw a figure come from around the next corner. She was a maid, but seemed different to the others - this one was actually a human and had silver hair and dark blue eyes, and appeared to be the chief maid.

'She oughta know where the library is,' Baker thought to himself.

He waited until she walked past him, before Baker quietly stood up and drew his combat knife. Creeping behind the chief maid, he quickly subdued the girl and soon had her at knife-point.

"Okay," said Sergeant Baker. "It's going to work like this. You're going to tell me-"

Something happened that very instant. Baker wasn't sure at first, but then the horrible realisation hit him a few seconds later. Somehow, this unassuming chief maid had escaping his grasp and confiscated his combat knife in the space of less than one micro-second. And now had him at knife-point with several dozen knive_s_ of her own.

"What were you saying?" she asked.

The Sergeant gulped, before raising his hands. "How did you do that?" he asked, maintaining his composure.

* * *

Lieutenant Bailey, meanwhile, came across a door to the basement. Entering, he was presented with yet another corridor.

'This bloody place never ends.' he thought to himself.

A few paces of walking, however, brought him before a door that was marked 'Library'.

"Bingo," he said to himself, grinning.

But before he could open it, another door caught his attention. It was on the far side of the corridor, but was made of steel and looked as if the owners of this mansion worked pretty hard to lock it down. However, Bailey did not allow his curiosity to get the better of him and quietly opened the library door.

'This place is huuuuge!' were the first words to enter Bailey's mind upon entering the Library. Indeed, there were bookshelves as far as the eye could see, the sheer amount of books easily enough to make the Library of Congress weep several times over.

"Trespasser," said a voice.

* * *

Remilia Scarlet was sitting in her tea room and enjoying a cup of tea when someone knocked on the door.

"Enter," she said.

Sakuya Izayoi came through the door and pushed Sergeant Baker through, hands tied behind his back.

"Who's this, then?" asked Remilia.

"I caught this one snooping around," replied Sakuya. "He was armed, and I have his weapons in a bag."

"Let me see them," said Remilia.

"Very well, Lady Remilia," replied Sakuya, handing her Mistress the bag.

'So this is the renowned Lady Remilia,' Baker thought to himself. 'I sure wasn't expecting her to be a kid.'

Remilia sifted through and pulled out the items as she found them. "Knife, strange gun, small gun, binoculars and, err, what are these?"

"I don't know, Lady Remilia." replied Sakuya. "Hey! Intruder! What are those strange ball-like objects?"

"They're called hand-grenades." said Sergeant Baker. "Pull the pin on one of them. I dare you."

"No thanks," replied Remilia. "It's probably some stupid trick you're trying to pull. Now, why are you here? What do you want from _my_ mansion?"

Sakuya pulled out a knife and held it to the back of Baker's neck. "Don't be telling Lady Remilia any lies," she said sharply. "Or I'll slit your throat."

Sighing, Sergeant Baker went on to explain the details of everything, starting with their status as Outsiders, the giant doll attack on the Human Village and Utsuho's attack the following day. He did not reveal any details about the fact that they were members of the US Armed Forces, but this did not concern Remilia anyway.

"I see," said Remilia. "So you're just here to find information about sources of radiation for an investigation?"

"Yeah," replied Sergeant Baker. "Alright, I've told you everything there is. Can I go now?"

"Just a moment," said Remilia, standing up to have a private conversation with Sakuya.

"This Outsider is referring to something called radiation and nuclear energy," whispered Remilia. "Could he be talking about Utsuho Reiuji's activities inside Youkai Mountain?"

"Possibly," replied Sakuya. "Utsuho has been acting fishy lately, and I suppose he doesn't have much reason to lie to us. Lady Remilia, I suggest we quickly tell Patchouli in the library about his friend that's supposedly down there as well, or there will be fireworks."

* * *

"Who are you?" asked Lieutenant Bailey to the figure that stood before him.

"I'm Patchouli Knowledge," came the reply. "I run the library down here, and I'm sure you aren't here to borrow anything. You are, therefore, trespassing. If you don't leave now, I'll have to forcefully evict you."

"I'd like to see you try." Bailey arrogantly replied. "I should probably tell you that I practice Judo and I won't go easy on you just because you're a female!"

Setting himself up in the appropriate Judo combat stance, he waited for Patchouli to make her move. What he forgot, however, was that his opponent was a magician.

"Spell card!" called out Patchouli. "Sun sign: Royal Flare!"

The Lieutenant hit the deck and rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding the flames that would have burnt him to a crisp. Bailey pulled out his revolver and fired a round at Patchouli, who simply dodged by flying up into the air. In response, Patchouli unleashed a rain of fiery danmaku shots, forcing Bailey to scramble to his feet and take cover behind a bookshelf. Making a run for it, Bailey attempted to lose his pursuer by weaving in and around the maze of bookshelves. Miraculously, it worked and the library soon fell silent.

"Where are you, intruder?" Patchouli called out, flying around. "If you don't come out, I'll... er, find you somehow!"

Patchouli then landed, and decided to search on foot. The two of them then engaged in a seemingly endless game of cat-and-mouse, with Bailey's extensive experience in stealth operations giving him a (very) slight advantage over Patchouli's magical prowess. After hours of walking, evading, crouching and crawling, Bailey found himself about 300 yards behind Patchouli in the same aisle. Grinning slightly, he stealthily closed in on her. In a stroke of misfortune, however, Patchouli happened to turn around.

"There you are!" she called out.

As Patchouli pulled out one of her spell books, Bailey broke into a sprint. Panicking, Patchouli attempted to look for spells.

"Let's see, er, how to-"

She was interrupted as the blade of a ceremonial sabre punched through her spell book, ending up millimeters from her face.

"Wh-what?" cried Patchouli, letting go and dropping book. "That's not fair!"

"You know," said Lieutenant Bailey. "Normally, this sabre is reserved for parades and drills - I've never used it in a real battle before. Go easy on me, will you?"

Patchouli screamed as she pulled books from their shelves to use as shields just to defend herself from Bailey's sabre attacks.

"I should probably tell you," said Bailey amid all this. "I also practice fencing!"

Patchouli eventually reached the end of the aisle and thus ran out of books to use as shields. With Lieutenant Bailey's fast and merciless strikes making it impossible to use any spell cards, Patchouli dropped to her knees and raised her hands. "I surrender!" she cried. "Just don't destroy any more of my books!"

Bailey nodded, but had the sabre pointed at her neck in case she tried anything.

"Wh-what do you want?" asked Patchouli.

"The same reason anyone would come to a bloody library," replied Bailey. "I want information. Information regarding sources of radiation and nuclear energy in this world."

* * *

Author's notes:

- Chuui is the Japanese word for Lieutenant.

- This chapter was a little rushed, so it may seem rubbish in comparison to the others.


	8. Chapter 8

After the scuffle in the Scarlet Devil Mansion earlier in the day, both parties (the residents of the Mansion and Bailey, Baker and Marisa) decided to sit down and negotiate terms over a nice spot of tea.

"Well," began Remilia, sipping her tea. "If all you people are after is information, you could have at least asked nicely. Anyway, yes. I think I know what you're looking for."

"Do tell," said Bailey.

"Not too far from the Human Village is Youkai Mountain," Remilia replied. "Located in the mountain side is a large hole - this hole leads to the Underground Geyser Centre, where Utsuho Reiuji and a large amount of Youkai are conducting research on nuclear energy."

"But," added Sakuya. "Lately, Utsuho's been acting strange, and she may be planning more than just researching on nuclear energy."

"Ah, the poof." Bailey remarked quickly.

"Utsuho?" asked Marisa. "She attacked the Human Village yesterday, not sure why."

"Precisely my point," replied Sakuya.

"Well, thank you very much for the information, Lady Remilia," said Bailey. "But perhaps we should take our leave now."

"Yes," agreed Remilia. "Do that, and good luck with your search."

* * *

The next morning, Bailey, Baker and Marisa returned to the Human Village and discussed ways to get into the Underground Geyser Centre. Reimu also returned, having safely sent RD, Tubby and Cookie back to the Outside World.

"It won't be easy," said Reimu. "Youkai Mountain is home to many dangerous Youkai, most of which don't like humans."

"Well," replied Sergeant Baker. "If they're dangerous and don't like us very much, we'll just have to take them on."

"Now, now, Sergeant," said Lieutenant Bailey. "There's no need to start a war - they'll outnumber us anyway. We just have to see what is going on in that Underground facility and determine if it's dangerous. If it poses no harm, then we leave and report back to HQ. If it proves to be dangerous, then we leave, report back to HQ and bring the hammer down."

"The hammer, sir?" asked Baker.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you about Operation Hellstorm - it's the deployment of a task force to this world in the event that things turn ugly."

"The Outside world is going to be invading us?" Marisa asked worriedly.

"Not exactly," replied Bailey. "More of a quick strike on a target before pulling out quickly."

"Back on topic," said Baker. "How are we going to get past all those, uh, Youkai-whatever-you-call-its?"

"Well if a conflict is inevitable," said Bailey. "Then I agree - we blast our way through. Reimu and Marisa, come as well - you know the place better than we do."

"Alright then," said Reimu.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Fireteams Oscar and Tango were readied for combat and marched off to the base of Youkai Mountain, led by Lieutenant Bailey and Sergeant Baker. The AH-64 Attack Helicopter was also scrambled to act as a support platform for Reimu and Marisa.

Lieutenant Bailey's small attack group arrived at the base of the Mountain.

'That is one HUGE mountain,' he thought.

Already, they were being watched from the bushes, trees and other sources of shadows by the Mountain's local Youkai. And they weren't too pleased, either.

"Humans!" a Tengu remarked. "How dare they trespass here!"

"Let's get them!" said an unidentifiable Youkai. "They probably taste good in a stew anyway!"

The Mountain's Youkai stealthily crept into ambush positions, but a sharp-eyed Reimu spotted them.

"Bailey-chuui, wait!" she said.

"What is it?" asked Bailey, turning around. "See something?"

"Over there!" Reimu replied, pointing at a rapidly closing flock of Hanataka Tengu.

"Good grief!" exclaimed Bailey. "I didn't even notice them! Fireteams Oscar and Tango, take cover and open fire!"

The soldiers ducked for cover and hit the deck, before opening fire on the Tengu. Though many were downed, more took their place and they soon returned fire with Danmaku. Reimu and Marisa flew up to meet their challenge, and made good use of their spell cards.

"Divine Spirit: Fantasy Seal!"

"Blazing Star!"

Within seconds, the air was filled with Danmaku, almost to the point where it blotted out the sun. Perhaps rather surprisingly, the humans responded well to the Tengu's assault, with Reimu and Marisa doing the bulk of the fighting and easily dealing the most damage. Then, Marisa spotted a second Tengu flock from the corner of her eye.

"Bailey-chuui!" she called out. "Another flock, over there!"

"Thanks!" replied Bailey. Picking up the radio, he contacted the Apache Helicopter. "Arrow, do you read me? This is Lieutenant Bailey. Second wave of hostiles coming in from our 3 o'clock high, 800 yards and closing fast. Engage targets, weapons free!"

"Roger that."

The AH-64 flew over to the second Tengu flock, and let loose with 30mm cannon rounds, rocket pods and Hellfire missiles. Within seconds, the second Tengu flock proved to be as successful as the first.

Before long, the Mountain Tengu decided that they'd had enough and retreated with massive losses. The only damage the humans had sustained was Bailey being hit in the arm by a danmaku shot, and even then the wound wasn't too serious.

"The standard danmaku shot isn't that powerful," he remarked. "They do about as much damage as a a BB Gun, but it burns like a hot iron."

"Yes, now imagine being hit by over a hundred of those, and you'll be dead." said Marisa. "You were lucky. Come on, let's go."

The humans continued their trek up the hill, with the AH-64 flying top cover. After the confrontation at the base of the Mountain, no Youkai dared to showed itself again, for fear of getting its arse handed to it by Reimu and Marisa, being shot full of holes by the Outsider soldiers, or being blown to smithereens by the strange machine with spinning wings. And before long, they arrived at the entrance to the Underground Geyser Centre.

"Well, here we are," said Reimu. "This place hasn't changed alot since I was last here."

"I can already feel the heat," said Sergeant Baker. "How does anything survive down there?"

"You must remember that Utsuho is a Hell Raven." said Marisa. "This environment is perfect for her."

The AH-64 landed nearby, as it would be useless in the Underground Geyser Centre.

"Fireteams Oscar and Tango, remain here and guard the Apache," said Lieutenant Bailey. "The four of us will go on ahead."

"Yes sir," came the reply.

Together, the group of four headed into the depths of the Underground Geyser Centre to confront Utsuho Reiuji...

* * *

Walking through the depths of the Underground Geyser Centre was like walking through an oven turned up to 150 degrees - even Coalition Tanks in Iraq didn't get that hot in the heat of battle. The immense heat could only mean one thing for Baker and Bailey.

"Blast it," said Bailey, sweating profusely. "We'll be cooked to death in here."

"Lieutenant, I suggest we get out of here while we can," said Sergeant Baker, his uniform drenched. "We can't fight like this - we'll be more of a hindrance to Reimu and Marisa."

"Please do," said Marisa. "You both stink."

"Alright, perhaps I haven't thought this through," replied Lieutenant Bailey. "We're getting out of here! Reimu and Marisa, carry on - I'm afraid we can't-"

"No, we'll leave as well," interrupted Reimu. "I have a better idea for getting at Utsuho."

* * *

That night, everyone had gathered back at the Human Village, a whole day having been wasted at Youkai Mountain.

"So, Reimu," asked Marisa. "What was this 'better' idea you had?"

"It's simple," replied Reimu. "We pay a visit to Yukari Yakumo. She'll get us to Utsuho very, very quickly."

"Yukari who now?" asked the Apache pilot.

"Yukari Yakumo," replied Marisa. "The Youkai in charge of boundaries. She can reportedly go anywhere, anytime, and in any world she pleases."

'The CIA could use her,' Sergeant Baker thought to himself. 'Think of all the top-secret info you could gather...'

"Yes," said Reimu, snapping Baker back to the discussion. "And I wish she wouldn't take my stuff whenever she pleases!"

"I'm all for asking Yukari for help," said Marisa. "But, where do we find her?"

There was a long, awkward silence.


End file.
